Policing and Community Safety

Lord Toby Harris has been involved in policing issues for many years.

He introduced one of the first local community safety partnerships when he was Leader of Haringey Council in the 1990s and led for local government nationally in the negotiations with the Home Office that led to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

He was the first Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority and oversaw a number of major changes between 2000 and 2004. His term of office saw the most significant increase the size of the Metropolitan Police in its history, the introduction of Police Community Support Officers and neighbourhood policing across London, and at the same time successfully turning round street crime, cutting burglary and meeting the full range of Government targets.

He continued to sit on the Metropolitan Police Authority until 2012, as the Home Secretary’s representative overseeing the national work of the Metropolitan Police on counter-terrorism and security. However, he also chaired the Authority’s Corporate Governance Committee which deals with audit matters, risk management and health and safety issues, and was the interim chair of the Audit Panel for the Metropolitan Police Service and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. He was Vice-President of the Association of Police Authorities and was a member of its Executive for six years.

He is also Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Policing and frequently speaks in the House of Lords on policing matters (see, for example, the debate on the future of policing on 7 June 2007 or the many debates on the Anti-Social Behaviour, Policing and Crime Bill in the 2013/14 session).

He frequently appears on radio and television talking about policing and has spoken at a number of major conferences and events including: